Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c9.s5.5

c9.s5.5

Some of the Sanskrit Stotras or Stavas which Rūpa and Raghunātha-dāsa wrote clearly indicate this attitude. In the *Stava-mālā* of the former Gosvāmin there are three opening Aṣṭakas in praise of Caitanya, although the rest of the work, consisting of more than fifty separate Stotras, describes in highly erotic imagery the different aspects of the Vṛndāvana-līlā of Kṛṣṇa. In these three Aṣṭakas, however, which are called *Caitanyāṣṭakas*, the high panegyric of Caitanya forms the direct theme. In the first Aṣṭaka, composed in Śikhariṇī metre, we are told in one verse that gods like Śiva, Brahmā, and others worship Caitanya, who is the resting place of the Upaniṣads, the all-in-all of the sages, the sweet sentiment of devotion itself to his devotees and the very essence of love to the Gopīs,—epithets which imply an identification of Caitanya with Kṛṣṇa himself. In another punning verse, which applies equally to Kṛṣṇa and to Caitanya, reference is made to the associates and followers of Caitanya, such as Advaita, Śrīvāsa Svarūpa and Paramānanda (Kavikarṇapūra?), as well as to Gajapati [Pratāparudra]. Mention is also made of Caitanya's reciting of Kṛṣṇa's name, his recollection of Vṛndāvana, his ecstasy, his residence at the sea-side and the Saṃkīrtana processions led by him before the car of Jagannātha. The second Aṣṭaka, also composed in Śikhariṇī, refers, among other things, to the attitude of some deluded people who, overcome by demoniacal tendency (*asura-bhāva*), do not acknowledge Caitanya,¹ who is Kṛṣṇa in fair form (akṛṣṇāṅga), whose Yajña consists of Saṃkīrtana and whose human form is always overflowing with bliss in order to teach the doctrine of love and remove the sorrows of the world. The seventh stanza apparently describes Caitanya in the dress and appearance of a Saṃnyāsin². It is also noteworthy that the third stanza of this Aṣṭaka explains the fair complexion of Caitanya by the supposition that Kṛṣṇa, desiring to experience the sweet feeling of the Gopīs, concealed his own dark complexion by stealing the golden hue of Rādhā, his beloved. We shall see presently that this fancy led to the elaboration of the doctrine that Caitanya is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa as well as of Rādhā, although the doctrine is already anticipated by the contemporary composers of Bengali Padas on Caitanya and some of his Bengali biographers. The third Aṣṭaka, composed in Pṛthvī metre, addresses the son of Śacī directly as Mukunda, whose greatness could not be described even by men of great intelligence like [Vāsudeva] Sārvabhauma.³ Caitanya has revealed the great wealth of Bhakti-rasa, which cannot be found in the Veda or the Upaniṣad and which was never divulged before in any other greater incarnation (guruturāva-tārāntare).